Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Sets New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $91.86 and last traded at $92.35, with a volume of 234508 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $92.90.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.00.

Crown Castle Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $105.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.03.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($1.03). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 221.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown Castle

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 2.4% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 0.5% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,439 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,899,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Crown Castle

Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 90,000 route miles of fiber supporting small cells and fiber solutions across every major U.S. market. This nationwide portfolio of communications infrastructure connects cities and communities to essential data, technology and wireless service – bringing information, ideas and innovations to the people and businesses that need them.